Toyota Daytona notes, quotes 2009-02-05

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&38M's Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR)
What are your chances to win the Daytona 500 this year? "I think we
have a good shot at being able to run well again this time. We ran
fourth there...

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&38M's Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR)

What are your chances to win the Daytona 500 this year? "I think we
have a good shot at being able to run well again this time. We ran
fourth there in the spring last year, led the most laps, and should
have won the race but got a little off there at the end with all the
cautions the way it fell. Hopefully, the Budweiser Shootout will show
us a little bit of what we can expect for the 500. Winning the July
race there was pretty cool with being able to get a first win at
Daytona like that."

Will you take the same car from a year ago back to Daytona? "I am not
sure which car we're taking down there. It's pretty much going to be
the same set-up package. We ran the same set-up package in February as
we did in July -- it seemed to work great both times, finished fourth
and finished first. So, I think we'll be just fine heading into Daytona
with the same set-up. Whether or not it's the same car, hopefully, they
improved on something body-wise that we can have a better car and a
better shot this time."

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry, JGR

What are your chances to win the Daytona 500 this year? "We led tons
of laps, especially in the early part of that race. We have been in
contention to win every (Daytona) 500 since my rookie year (2006). It's
just that things have never worked out. I don't think you'll see any
difference this year than what you saw last year, especially coming
back with the same tire and the same race car as we had last year.
I think you'll see that caution with 10 to 15 (laps) to go like you
always do, and then I think hell is going to break loose after that."

How focused are you heading into this season? "I can assure you that
I'm more focused than I've ever been on the racing aspect of it. A lot
of people say that, but I work my guts out in the gym to try and be
better. Every time I think I'm working hard, I always picture someone
else who's working a little bit harder than I am so I push myself a
little bit more. Even when I go to a test session, if we need to work
on something, I don't need to be up in the lounge when they're making
changes -- taking a nap. I need to be underneath that car wondering
what I can do, what better feedback I can give them, and give them all
the feedback I can. I'm really trying everything I can to be better -- to be the best that I can be -- because I'm tired of hearing
that I have potential. I want to show that I have results instead."

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, JGR

What are your expectations for your rookie season in the Cup Series?
"Rookie-of-the-Year would be big for us. We will go for that and then
go along -- the same way I did last year in the Nationwide Series --
just kind of go with the flow, see where we are at and do the best we
can every weekend."

How do you feel about your first Daytona 500 start?
"I'm definitely excited about Daytona and joining the Home Depot team.
Obviously, it's the biggest race that I've ever been in -- it's the
Daytona 500 -- so it's going to be big. I'm looking forward to it and
I'm really excited."

How is your relationship with crew chief Greg Zipadelli?
"It will still probably take a couple of races, but I think we're
getting to that point now where we are starting to gel a little bit,
getting to know each other. There are a lot of different things that
we're going to learn along the way, but I think that helped our
communication. The way I describe a race car to the way he fixes it --
it takes time to get that chemistry going -- but I feel good about it."

What are your expectations for your rookie season in the Cup Series?
"We definitely learned some stuff toward the end of the year. Miami
was a big success for us. I think we improved on that. We've shown,
definitely to ourselves, how far we've come with this test in Atlanta
(in January) because Atlanta is one of the tracks that we struggled the
most at. Jimmy (Elledge, No. 82 crew chief) and I were communicating,
he definitely has a better feel for what I want and what I need and
we're able to get it. That's really encouraging going into the year."

How beneficial will it be to compete in the Shootout? "It was really a
pleasant surprise to hear that we were going to be in the Shootout. The
experience of being able to race on Saturday night is honestly going to
be so valuable for me and the entire 82 team. It's a great opportunity
for us to test our stuff for the Daytona 500 and it's an opportunity
for me to get some more track time, which is always a good thing for a
rookie."

Do you think your team can contend for race wins this year? "I hope so.
We obviously know how to run up front as a team. We just have to be
able to finish like that. We led over 250 laps, just not the right one.
One of those is all we needed, just at the right time. We've got to
figure out how to be there at the end of the race. That's where we've
struggled. We've got to be able to finish the race, not make mistakes,
not have problems, not fall out of races, not blow engines and not have
tires come off. Once we can accomplish that, then I think we have a
shot at winning races and championships."

Do you think your team can contend for race wins this year? "I think
we just need to be more consistent with what we do. Last year, we had
flashes of brilliance where we could run well and we could run in the
top-10 and top-five and have good finishes, but we need to do it on a
more consistent basis. If we can work on being more consistent and make
our pit stops a little better and just do the things that we've been
doing, but a little better. I think those gains will serve us well as
the season progresses. Gains in this sport are made not by miles, but
by inches. We will just keep inching up on it a little at a time and I
feel like we'll be in contention to do what we need to do."

MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, MWR

What are the toughest challenges in being a driver/owner? "As I've
matured as an owner I love being a driver because I'm in the car and
I understand what my other guys are dealing with. I'm able to be very
critical of our equipment. I'm able to say; 'How can we make it
better' or 'What can we do to improve?' I think that experience
helps our team as it grows. What I look back at it and wish I would've
done differently is, I wish I would've knew more about being a car
owner than I did when I started. It took a long time just to get to a
point where we felt like we were starting to gain some momentum and
to get our feet up under us. We are there now, but it's taken a whole
bunch of changes of philosophy and a whole bunch of people that have
come and gone and helped me to establish myself as an owner. I feel
great today with where we are as a team."

TERRY LABONTE, No. 66 Window World Toyota Camry, Prism Motorsports

Are you looking forward to getting back into a race car at Daytona?
"I ran some races last year for the Pettys and absolutely had a great
time and it was a lot of fun. When Michael (Waltrip) and Phil (Parsons)
called me about doing this I said; 'Yeah, we'll do -- we'll try
it.' So, I'm looking forward to the opportunity to go to Daytona and
hopefully we can make the race and have a good run down there. That is
an unusual race and you've seen people go down there and really run a
lot better then you would ever expect. This year without testing has
made it unusual. Before you always had guys that went down there and
tested for three days and when you went back you pretty much knew who
was going to run good when you got down there. It's kind of wide open
a little more this year than maybe in the past. This is a car that one
of Michael's (Waltrip) teams ran there last year on the speedways so
hopefully we can get it dialed in and have a good run."

***

NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS)

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Z-Line Designs Toyota Camry, JGR

How beneficial is it for you to run a full schedule in the Nationwide Series? "I like being out there on the race
track -- I would rather be out on the race track. The only time when it gets hard on you a little bit is trying to
jump back and forth between truck practice, Cup practice, Nationwide practice and qualifying, and all that stuff on
the same day. Along with media obligations, sponsor obligations and all the stuff like that. To me though, when
you're out on the race track you would rather be there than sitting in a motor home watching the race on TV."

***

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS)

JOHNNY BENSON, No. 1 Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing

How do you
approach the 2009 season as the defending NCWTS champion with a new
race team? "I am looking forward to this season. It's something
different obviously, with a new team, than I've done the last four
years. It's going to be different and challenging like all new ventures
but outside that I'm looking forward to it. I'm working with Trip
(Bruce, crew chief) again and some of the guys that I've worked with
in the past and then trying to build a new team around it is always
exciting."

What challenges will you face this season switching to a new race
team? "With the rule changes and all of that stuff, it's a whole new
ballgame now. There's going to be a lot of different challenges ahead
of us. If we're able to overcome those challenges quickly, I think we
have a shot at defending the title. If we don't, then it will be a
little long. I think anytime that you go to a new team and a new owner
your expectations are to do good and your expectations are still to
accomplish your goals, but it's always been a challenge anytime I've
ever done that."

TODD BODINE, No. 30 Germain Racing Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing

Why
have you been so successful racing at superspeedways? "As a team, we do all the technical things right, but we still have
to have luck. If we do it right like we've been doing, and we're
lucky enough, then we can continue to win at tracks like Daytona and
Talladega. In order to be in a position to win, we have to have a good
truck and we are confident that we have a great No. 30 Tundra prepared
for Daytona."